


Five Times Keith Was Alone and One Time He Finally Isn’t

by AnimationFans



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: 5+1 Things, Child Abandonment, Child Neglect, Heavy Angst, Keith's father is a jerk, M/M, Major Character Injury, fluff at the end, keith's backstory, triggering
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-24
Updated: 2017-04-24
Packaged: 2018-10-23 11:45:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10718727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnimationFans/pseuds/AnimationFans
Summary: There was a time when Keith would thought that this would be a good way to go, surrounded by friends, no, family. But now, now he desperately wants to live on, he wants to laugh with them, cry with them and live with them for the many years to come.





	Five Times Keith Was Alone and One Time He Finally Isn’t

**Author's Note:**

> There are some descriptions of child neglect and child abandonment. I don't know if this would be triggering or not so I tag it just in case.

         Keith has never got the chance to know his mother. Ever since he can remember things, there’s only been his father. The first time he uttered fragmented words, the first time he took his step, all those significant moments in his childhood had only his father as a witness. Keith was happy though, he had his father and that was enough. Although Keith’s father was distant, stern and rarely accompanied him after he was slightly older, he was still the whole world to Keith.

         On Keith’s six year old birthday, his father brought him to an amusement park as a celebration. He was practically bouncing on his feet, too excited and thrilled as this is his first trip to an amusement park. He didn’t notice there was a bump on the road and tripped over it, causing him to stumble and fall onto the ground hard. There were bruises and minor grazes on his knees and it stings. Keith could feel tears starting to gather and threatening to pour as he looked at his father, hoping that his father would come and offer comfort to him. Instead, his father just stood where he was and said: “Stand up on your own, Keith. You have to grow up, I won’t be here forever.” Keith didn’t know why those words hurt so bad but they did and he couldn’t help himself but started sniffling. Then, a soothing voice cut in: “Are you alright?” and a pair of gentle hands were helping him to stand up. Keith looked up only to find a young woman looking at him concerned. “Ye- Yes, I am alright. Tha- Thank you.” Keith relished in her warm demeanor because his father had never comfort him like this. Keith wondered if his mother would be like this woman, caring and loving.

         “Mum, I want to try out the merry-go-round. Come on!” A little boy called out, and the woman responded: “Yeah, I’m coming!” She bade Keith goodbye and Keith almost wanted to tug on her sleeves, to plead her stay for a while, but he thought better of it and waved his goodbye back at her. His father didn’t say anything. He just looked at him with an unreadable expression and Keith had this urge to curl into himself. For the first time in his life, Keith felt lonely, even though his father was there by his side.

          Keith’s father abandoned him two weeks after they went to the amusement park. That day, he brought Keith to the shopping mall, led him to a bench and told him to sit there and wait for him. Keith nodded obediently, looking at the stores with a faint curiosity. His father left and never returned. Keith waited for him from afternoon till dinner time and some of the workers nearby finally realized that something’s wrong. They came to him and asked for his father’s details. After that, they broadcasted his name and waited but still his father didn’t turn up. He heard someone murmured: “How could someone even have the heart to abandon their child like this?” and his heart sank. He stubbornly insisted on waiting for his father until the shopping mall closed. And that’s when he thought: _now I am really all alone, aren’t I?_

          When Keith was nine years old, he got adopted from the orphanage. The foster family was really nice to him, even though they always have pity in their eyes. Keith felt that he had finally found the place that he belonged to. Mr. and Mrs. Smith doted on him and Ben who was of same age as him was a really good playmate. However, everything changed when Keith’s and Ben’s academic results came out. Keith’s results were way better than Ben’s and he also excelled in a few other aspects. After a few times, Mr. and Mrs. Smith started becoming distant and Ben’s jealousy made their relationship tense and awkward. Keith tried everything to make things back the way it was, but it was futile. After being adopted for nine months, Keith got sent back to the orphanage. Keith didn’t cry as his foster family mumbled their insincere apologies, he just reminded himself again and again that he would never let anyone into his heart anymore and maybe he’s destined to be alone.

           Keith let Shiro into his heart. It’s just hard not to. Shiro was like the brother he never get to have. He would ask Keith how his day was going, monitor him so that he ate regularly, took care of him when he was sick. He would practice with Keith when Keith wanted to hone his skills, celebrate Keith’s birthday (it was actually the first proper birthday Keith had had in years), and congratulate him sincerely when Keith beat his scores in the stimulation flight. Keith had almost forgotten what _lonely_ means with Shiro being a constant in his life…until he’s not. Keith was listening to the news about the failure of the Kerberos mission, about how the pilots were missing. He bit into his lips until he could fell the metallic copper taste, knuckles gripped so hard until they turned white. It took all his effort to not hyperventilate right then and there, with the realization that he was again left on his own.

           After Keith dropped out of the garrison school, the place that he lived wasn’t exactly lively. It was eerily silent, to the point that it was deafening and suffocating. Countless of times he would wake up from nightmares, either screaming himself hoarse or with sweats plastered to his face. All of them were about Shiro. Sometimes he would dreamed about Shiro’s body being recovered, sometimes the dream would be about Shiro was never seen again for the rest of his life. But the worst was this: he had dreamed about Shiro coming home alive, intact and in one piece, reaching out his hand to Keith like he usually did and greeted: “Hey, you doing alright?” Keith reached out his hand, only to wake up to the darkness of his room. Keith buried his face into his pillow, hoping that this loneliness will finally go away for once.

           It was a miracle that Keith even managed to find Shiro and he was very thankful. However, it really was an accident that he ended up being one of the defenders of universe who pilots giant robot lions. He never once regret it though, because his family is not just Shiro now. Hunk and Pidge would be his brother and sister , Allura and Coran are like relatives, and Lance… Keith doesn’t know how to define their relationship but he always has this weird fluttering sensation whenever Lance is nearby. Maybe it’s his contagious laughter that always make Keith curls his mouthline upwards despite himself, maybe it’s his admirable loyalty to his friends or maybe it’s just because he’s _Lance_.

           Keith thinks that this time his happiness will finally last but things just have to go wrong for him. They are on a scout mission on this planet, Azuria which is supposed to be Galra-free. Keith and Lance are just supposed to grab some crystal that can only be found on this planet and go back to the castle, plain and simple. The equation however becomes complicated when a bunch of Galras are thrown into the mix. Keith and Lance barely manage to shout for reinforcements into their comms before the Galras start attacking. Keith slashes and hacks with the same fluidity when he’s practicing with the droids. _Maybe we shouldn’t have called for reinforcements,we have got this,_ he thinks to himself as he sees Lance shoots down the Galras with accurate aim and gives Keith a lopsided grin when his expression suddenly morphs into horror. “Keith, behind you!” Keith turned around with his bayard sword but it’s too late. A dagger finds its way to his abdomen. He grunts in pain and slashes the Galra across its throat. He thought that he had defeated the Galras near him but apparently that Galra just now isn’t fully dead yet. He can see Lance shooting the few remaining Galras and rushing towards him. Lance manages to catch him just in time before he hits the ground.

           “Hey, guys, you might want to hurry up! Keith is hurt real bad and we are a long distance away from our lions. Coran, you have to get the pod ready, he’s… I don’t know how long he’s going to hold up.” Keith vaguely hears Lance rambling, noting the quivers and trembles in his voice. He can feel something wet on his face, and he realizes that Lance is crying. Crying, for him. He can hear Pidge and Hunk’s voices yelling over the comms, stating that they are near and tells Keith to be strong and hang on. He can hear Shiro telling him that he will make it through this, even though his voice cracks a little. He hears Allura and Coran assuring him that the cyropod will heal everything, he just have to stay with them until then. And then there’s Lance, who’s crying uncontrollably and running his hands softly through Keith’s locks. “You can’t die, you hear me? You are not going to die, you just have to hang on a little more.” There was a time when Keith would thought that this would be a good way to go, surrounded by friends, no, _family_. But now, now he desperately wants to live on, he wants to laugh with them, cry with them and live with them for the many years to come. He wants to hang on but darkness finally wins as it engulfs him.

            When Keith regains consciousness, it’s to the cyropod’s hissing and then he’s tumbling out. He’s pulled into a warm embrace immediately and he knows instinctively that it’s Lance. “Quiznak, you scared us for a while right there.” Keith can’t help but smile a little: “Yeah?” He takes a look around the room and finds out that everyone’s there although all of them except Lance are deep in slumber. Keith feels this warm fuzzy feeling in his chest and he’s so grateful that he finally has a home. And then, Lance surprises him by leaning in and kisses him slightly on the mouth. “Promise me you would stay safe for me, for us?” Keith barely manages to stutter an “Ok” before he’s kissing Lance back and he knows that this time, he will never be alone again.

**Author's Note:**

> This is the longest fic that I have written in a while. I hope you guys enjoy it! Comments and kudos give me more motivation, so please leave your thoughts in the comment section, thank you!


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